We present a deep circular polarization image of the Orion BN/KL nebula in the Ks band and correlations of circular polarization, linear polarization, and H-Ks color representing extinction. The image of circular polarization clearly reveals the quad
rupolar structure around the massive star IRc2, rather than BN. H-Ks color is well correlated with circular polarization. A simple relation between dichroic extinction, color excess, circular and linear polarization is derived. The observed correlation between the Stokes parameters and the color excess agrees with the derived relation, and suggests a major contribution of dichroic extinction to the production of circular polarization in this region, indicating the wide existence of aligned grains.
We report the detection of eighteen infrared reflection nebulae (IRNe) in the $J$, $H$, & $Ks$ linear polarimetric observations of the NGC 6334 massive star-formation complex, of which 16 IRNe are new discoveries. Our images cover $sim$180 square arc
minutes, one of the widest near-infrared polarization data in star-formation regions so far. These IRNe are most likely associated with embedded young OB stars at different evolutionary phases, showing a variety of sizes, morphologies, and polarization properties, which can be divided into four categories. We argue the different nebula characteristics to be a possible evolutionary sequence of circumstellar structures around young massive stars.
The ``integral-shaped filament of the Orion A giant molecular cloud was mapped in N2H+, and its northern end, the OMC-2/3 region was observed also in HC3N and CCS. The N2H+ distribution is similar to the dust continuum distribution, except for the ce
ntral part of the Orion Nebula. The distribution of H13CO+ holds resemblance to that of dust continuum, but the N2H+ distribution looks more similar to dust continuum distribution. The N-bearing molecules, N2H+ and NH3 seem to be more intense in OMC-2, compared with the H13CO+ and CS distribution. We identified 34 cloud cores from N2H+ data. Over the Orion Nebula region, the N2H+ linewidth is large (1.1-2.1 km/s). In the OMC-2/3 region, it becomes moderate (0.5-1.3 km/s), and it is smaller (0.3-1.1 km/s) in the south of the Orion Nebula. On the other hand, the gas kinetic temperature of the quiescent cores observed in N2H+ is rather constant (~ 20 K) over the $int$-shaped filament. We detected no CCS emission in the OMC-2/3 region. In general, N2H+ and HC3N distribution is quite similar in the OMC-2/3 region, but we observed displacement between N2H+ and HC3N over 2 scale in OMC-3, which has a chain of Class 0-I protostars (candidates).
